Bar metering system



Aug. 7, 1934; c. L. EKSERGIAN 1,959,503

BAR METERING SYSTEM Filed July 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l A w 1 K a a 2% T 7% #L :1-

FIG. I

I N VEN TOR.

Cmaows L. KSERGI Iv BY 7 K Z 7 A TTORNEY.

I C. L. EKSERGIAN Aug. 7, 1934.

BAR METERING SYSTEM Filed July 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 7, 1934 PATENT; op g;-

BAR. METERING SYSTEM 7 Carolus L. Eksergian, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Budd Wheel Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 31, 1930, Serial No. 472,046

12 Claims. (01. 16/l l8) This invention consists of a feeding and metering system for bar stock, particularly hot bar stock, which is to be severed in'lengths for fabrication. Its most useful application to date has been in connection with great obtuse angled rolling mills for the formation of integral hubs, integral hubs and drums and for the rolling of disc and other wheels from billets of cylindrical bar stock.

However, the invention doubtless has other applications bothto smaller and to larger operations of different classes of machinery which are most conveniently operated by strip or rod stock, perhaps even sheet'stock after the same has been longitudinally cut into parts more conveniently operated upon than the entire bar, etc.

Particularly in the handling of massive bars from three to ten inches in diameter, do the system and method of this invention find utility.

20 Such bars, by reason of their very massiveness,

are very difiicult to handle, not to mention measure and cut-off with accuracy. Incident to the accumulation of scale, within the furnace in which they are heated for cut-off and the fabricating operations, the bars have a-tendency to get out of line with the support and jamb. Likewise, irregularities in succession of feeding of bars within the furnace itself induces irregularities in feeding of the individual bar to the metering and the cut off mechanisms. The extreme temperatures to which such stocks need be raised to put them into condition for the great amount of work necessary to be done upon them by the cutoff, the billet or blank forming, and the final fabrication by rolling, not only introduces an undue amount of scale, but also affects the reliability and accuracy of the ordinary feeding and cutoff devices. The very massiveness of the stock also necessitates highly specialized cut-off devices and the shapes of the cut-off faces of the stock introduce new problems in reverse angular planes for metering. Economical handling of such massive stock' without waste of power" is likewise a problem.

The aims of my invention comprehend the solution of these problems by common means and by means so simple and direct as to reduce first cost and at the same time to further reliability, durability and easeof manipulation.

According to the method I have evolved the stock is metered withrespect to a relatively fixed movements are done by axial end engagement of the bar. The cut-01f is in a plane truly trans-, verse to the axis of the ban-but the cut surfaces are at an acute angle to the axis and symmetrie h cally disposed, meeting in anedge which passes so through the axis of the bar. Further, according to my method I engage the end of the bar in the metering movement back toward the cut-off plane past which it has been overfed, by engagement with said surfaces. 7 l

This method I carry out in an apparatus which comprises a bar heating. furnace, embodying a bar support within itself, and also embodying, a bar support projectingfrom one of its sides, a rear end bar pusher operating from the opposite side of the furnace to push the .baralong the support andout of the furnace, and afront end bar pusher adapted to engage the front end of the bar so as to push it back into the furnace by, its end. A cut-off mechanism is located in a;,plane intermediate the front end .bar pusher and the side of the furnace and its supportifrom which the bar emanates from the furnace. The front end bar pusher in its retracted position, acts as a step for therear end pusher, and in itsextended or forward position as the measurer. of the stock to be out. In such capacity it has alimited range of movement, the back end of which-defines the limit of forward movement toward the cut-off mechanism of the rear end pusher. Its extreme forward limit of movement toward the cut-off mechanism defines a measured distance with respect to the plane of the cut-off along which and by means of whichthe length of stockto Ibecut off is metered. Connected with the front end pusher is a cut-out for the rear end pusher,where-- by; when the rearend pusher has pushed the-stock to this stop as constituted by the front end pusher, power for the rear end pusher is cut off.; Such power is out on-manually or automatically, following the cut-off operation. Normally, the rear end pusher, bar support, metering device and, front end pusher lie in series substantiallyon the same axis. The frontend pusher is bodily" adjustable along this axis to adjust the position. of its limited range of movement on the axis and hence through'the relation of its extreme limit of forward movement toward the cut-off plane adjusts the length of the metered stock. It is v furthermore adjustable laterally of the, axi s to move it out of the immediate region 'of the cut off mechanism for the, purpose of giving the op-' rator access-to the cut-off mechanism. Assoa ciated with the front'pusher and laterally adjustable therewith-is the backing-out device also-1l0 adapted to engage the forward end of the pusher.

Like the rear end pusher, it has a pushing range Fig. 2 is an axial cross section of the rearend-l pusher and its operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a similar View of thef-ront-endpusher and the cut-off mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the mechanisms of Fig. 3. I FigS 5 to=9 are diagrams showing the functioning 'parts of the system. c Figureld is? an -enlarged view of a-- portion of figure ii;

Figure. 11 ista 'section on the line 1-1--1-=1-of 1 i'g'i'11'e12;-

Referring toFigcl, isth'e furnace;-,].-1 is altar support on the floor of" the furnace, 12' an extensi'oir'ther'eof. projecting outof one side of the furnace, 13 is the rearend-pusl'ier mechanism at large 1 44s thecut-off mechanism, 15 is the frontend pusher mechanism and 16 is thebacking oucoevice.

'rnc furnace itself is diagrammatically shown.

It may be anyone" of the 'well-known types of has heati-ng'furnaices adapted. to heat bars either singly or multiple; most commonlyin multiple. The multiple'b'ar? heating furnace heats the bars through rcverberatory blasting over the bars as meyrest on aninclinedf-urnacefloor down which bars roll; by gravity. This furnace is no part ostn'e present invention andhasian' element in the invention principally because it embodies a means; for heating andmeans of supporting, two

canny fect'tc outwit mechanism 14.

The bar support-$111. is ormay'be a part of the turnacerlocn: If not a part'of the furnace floor it most beconstituted so that it Willi stand the extreme Heat "of the furnace and of the hot bar.- It is along internal support 1-].- that.

sc'ale and other refusecolie'ct and ultimately rendei" irregular the su port ofthe' bar I) and'bring ahout itsmis'alig nnintz As apart of the floor 3 or the'furnace the support bears other bars in the heatingrurnaceami these bars, as they bear laterally uponthe bar "b beingfed, tend to impart regrflanty or irregularity in their positions to the bar lie The rear end-pusher comprises a water cooled rod 17 in axial alignment with the bar If and engaging its rear end 18'through an apertii i'fe' 19 the rear side of the furnace 10.

It actuated in axiafaiignment to the axis of the" supports 11 and 1-2 and the bar b by an axially aligned'rack 18 carried by lower and upper rolls 2G- and T21. -Water cooled rodl'? constitutes a. rigid-extension of the par 18' and its axial alignmerit; is preserved by the preservation of the axial alignment of baflfi' by the pairs of rolls 20,- 21.

met and discharge water conduits 22- corinect= iiig with the rear end of the rod. 1'1 are flexible:

The frontend cf-rack 18' is supportedand guided by 1 011 23 over fixed underlying rail. 24. Rack 18-,- as it islon its underside and is op-.

era-ted to project the push rod 17 into and out of the furnace by a pinion 25 driven from the worm gear 26 connected with the electric motor 27. The rear end of rack 18 runs in rear end guideways 28.

Cut-off mechanism 14 may be of any known construction just as in. case of the furnace. Suffice it to say that its principal elements, knives 29 act in a plane 30 to symmetrically sever tlie'bar in that plane through the symmetrical approach of their cutting edges 31 in such manner that the inclined faces 32 of the out are symmetrically disposed and that the final cutoff edge 33 lies on the axis 34 on which the bar and? all elements of. the system in general lie.

Beyond the plane- 30 from the furnace lies the front end pusher 15. This front end pusher likewise has its axis on the axis 34. It comprises areciprocatory piston motor 35, the piston 36 of which actuates piston rod'37 which engages the bar- I) onv its front; or advanced end, as sho-Wn inall figuresv -Motor 35: has a. fixed range of movement on: the axis 34,. that is to say, a range of movement limitedbyzthe stroke of its piston. In: its back stroke,pistonl36 strikes against there'ar end; of its cylinder. On its front stroke piston 36= strikes against the front end of. its; cylinder; In the one case it defines the extreme limit of the backward range of movement: and. in the other casethe: extreme range: of the forward rangezof. movement Motor? 35 is suspended from'a pair of overlying rails 38by means of front and; rearcross heads 39 and 40, slidabl-y connected: with" these: rails; Cross head 39' connects with the rails" through the depended angle shaped. gibs 41. The cross head connects with thefront end of the motor 35- through threaded engagement 42' with its front end, and itself. constitutesthe front end of the motor cylinder: and embodies thestuffmg box 43. The rear cross head. "supports the-rear end of the cylinder by a depending: journal 44 engaging the backing out device 16. Thi'sdevice 1 6 has a threaded engagement 45" with the rear cylinder head 46-.- The front end pusher is bodily axially adjustable with respect to this rear support 40,. v44. Therearend pusher ldi'ntermediate the motor 35* andathe' support 44' has clamped thereon a. collar 47 having a connec:- tion with a large screw 48 rotatable in cross" head 40- ab'out'an axis 49- parallel to the axis 34. Screw'48'is journaled. in a bearing 50: in the cross head 40 and is freely rotatable therein by'means' of a bevel gear connection 51 with a hand wheel 52 operable from a fixed overlying'platform- 53.. Screw 48 being prevented from axial relative movement as respects member 40,v when rotated, acts upon the collar'47 to move boththe front end pushing device 15 and the backing. up device 16 along the axis 34 :to bodily adjust them with respect to the plane 30 of'the cut-off device 14..

Supported from the front cross head 39 by means'of forwardly'projected rods 54, is aplate'. 55 carrying a guide 56 for the piston push rod;

37.: This likewise carries, by an arm57; a cutout switch 58' in the circuit oftlieelectric motor 2'7 of the rear end pusher mechanism of Fig; 2.. either directly or indirectly. g

The backing out. device'consists of the fluid pressure motor 59in axial rearward. extensioniof the'motor 35 or the front end pusher. A cylinder of this motor is the part which is directly borne in thedependingguide 44-. of thecross-head 40. It is a very long cylinder and itsoutboardend is borne-in agulde 60 in a third cross head 61; likeapplied to the rear push rod 1'7.

wise supported from rails 38. Both cross head 40 and this cross head 61 are bolted in suitable position to the rails 38, as shown. Motor 59 has its outboard end closed by a head 62. The inboard end is that which has the threaded connection 45 with the cylinder 35 of the front end pusher 15. A piston 63 of motor 59 operates the piston rod 64, which rod is projected forwardly toward the plane 30 through a hollow piston 36 and piston rod 37 of the front end pusher, and is adapted to engage the front end of bar b. Piston rod 37 is provided with a rearward extension 65 through the rear cylinder head 46. Between it and cylinder head 46 is a stufling box 66. Similarly between extension 65 and the piston rod 64 is a second stuffing box 6'7. The range of movement of the backing out push rod 64 is substantially equal to the full width of the furnace 10, whereby a bar or portion of a bar may be not only pushed back into furnace 10 but also pushed all the way out of the other side through opening 19. Normally, a removable cap 68 on the end of the front end pusher rod 3'7 precludes engagement of the rod 64 with the work, but this cap may, on occasion, he removed to permit engagement of the work thereby. Cap 68 carries teeth 69 appropriately arranged to engage. the work on the well defined and accurately placed face 32 formedby the cut-off knives 29.

Both the front end pusher mechanism 15 and the backing out of pusher mechanism 16 as car ried by the rails 38 are laterally adjustable with respect to the axis 34 through the carriage of rails 38 on the head frames '70 and '71 having a wheel support '72 on transverse rails '73. Fluid pressure for forward and back strokes as supplied, the motors 59 and 35 through flexible connections '74, 7'7, '78, '79, and the exhaust is controlled by any suitable valves, not shown.

The operation is as follows. The bars having been heated in the furnace and the lowermost bar being at that temperature suitable for cutting off the circuit of electric motor 2'7 is closed through cut-out switch 58 by a switch (not shown) located at any other points in its direct or controlled circuit. The knives 29 being spaced apart sufficiently to allow the front end of the bar b as shown in Fig. 5, the bar I) is pushed between them and beyond them on the front side of furnace 10. This pushing out action continues until the front end of the bar engages the front end of the front end pusher rod 3'7 as appears in Fig. 5 and further until, as appears in Fig. 6, the front end pusher rod 37 has been carried back to its rearward extreme limit of range as defined by the striking of the piston 36 against the rear head of the cylinder 35. At this juncture or slightly before, switch 58 is engaged by the cap "56, (see Fig. 3) and the direct or the control circuit of motor 2'7 is opened, cutting off the power Thereupon, automatically or by hand, (by means not necessarily shown here) fluid is admitted through the conduit '7'? to the rear of piston 36, pushing the bar 2) back toward the plane 30 of the knives 29 'until the extreme forward limit of the range of movement to motor 35 is reached, as shown in Fig. '7. Thereupon, fluid pressure is applied through the conduit '74 to retract front push rod 137 as shown in Fig. 8, and simultaneously but slightly before power is applied to the knives 29 to cut off the section '75 of the stock which has been metered. Thereafter the cycle may be repeated.

It will be apparent that by the backward movementof the front end push device 15, that the action of the knives 29may take place, without reaction against the rod 33 orcap 68 and thereby so freely as to insure the accurate severing of the length measured. Indeed, the entire bar floats with respect to the powerful knives 29 and the: body of the bar no more than the severed front end '75 interferes with the accuracy of action of the knives 29 in their severing of the billet '75 in the plane 30. After the severing of the first billet, the engagement .of the accurately formed and. symmetrical faces 32 by the teeth 69 of the cap'68= constitutes them an-accurate face from which to effect the metering measurement. By reason of the oversfeeding by the rear push rod 1'7, and the re-feeding toward the plane 30 by the metering device 15, as it bears on the symmetrical faces 32 most accurate metering is obtained irrespective of the degree of feeding by the rearpush rod 1'7,

this constitutes a much more accurate measure than is constituted by a mere fixed stop for forward movement, with respect to which knives 29 could not act without impairment of their ac, curary since there would not be freedom of movement for the billet '75 as cut off. Nor would a switch device 58 utilized to stop the out feeding movement of the bar baccurately stop thebar. for motor 2'7 would overthrow the bar more or less, depending upon the actual timing of the switch 58 or equivalent device, the resistance of the instant to bar movement, etc.

At any time a scale accumulates, and mis-aligns the bar b or there is any other irregularity in its movement requiring'attention, the bar I) may be pushed backwards into or out of the furnace 10 sufficiently to clear up the irregularity, as for example, by removal of the scale, by simple adjusting cap 68 to permit rod 64 to push through the end of rod 3'7 and applying fluid pressure to the rear end of piston 63 to a sufficient extent. Rod 64 is retracted by. applying fluid to the opposite side of its piston. 1

At any time during the operation of the same on or above stock, the length of the metered section '75 may be adjusted merely by turning the hand wheel 52. Any time that the knives 29 or their mechanism 14 needs attention, the entire front end push rod mechanism together with the backing out push rod mechanism 16 may be laterally bodily adjusted by rolling them along the rails '73. In normal operation they are held in place by through bolts or pins '76 bolted in axial alignment.

Modification and improvement are the rule of all inventions. This invention is no exception. Each and all modifications and improvements falling within its generic spirit should likewise fall within the purview of the annexed claims irrespective of the circumstantial terminology which is used.

What I claim is:

1. A hot bar metering system for hot bar cutoff machines comprising a bar support, a rear end bar pusher, a front end bar pusher, and a cutout for the rear end pusher connected with the front end pusher.

2. A bar metering system for hot bar cut-off machines, comprising a bar support, a rear end bar pusher and front end bar pusher constituting retracted position a stop forthe' rear end pusher, and in its forward position a measuring device of the length of the bar to be cut.

4. A barmetering' system for bar cut-off machines comprising a bar support, a rear end bar pusher, a'front end bar pusher constituting in its retracted position a stop for the rear end pusher, and in its forward position a measuring device of the length of the stock to be cut, a bar cut-off device forward of the extreme limit of forward movement of the front pusher. 5. A bar metering system for bar cut-01f machines comprising a bar support, a rear end bar pusher, a front end bar pusher constituting in its retracted position a stop-for the rear end pusher, and in its forward position a measuring device of the length of the stock to be cut, a bar cut-off device forward of the extreme limit of forward movement of the front pusher, and means to shift the front end pusher bodily to adjust the metering of the bar.

6. A hot bar feeding system for hot bar cutoff devices comprising a furnace, a bar support connected with the furnace, a rear end bar pusher adapted to push the hotbar from the furnace to be cut off and having a range of movement extending substantially the complete width of the furnace, together with a bar-backing out pusher on the cut-off side of the furnace adapted to engage the forward end of the bar and having a range of operative movement also substantially the complete width of the furnace.

7. A bar metering syst'emfor hot bar cut-on machines comprising a furnace, a bar support within and projecting from the furnace, a rear end bar pusher adapted to push the bar over its support and out of the furnace, a front end bar pusher connecting in its extreme forward position as the measure up of the stock to be cut with respect to the cut-off mechanism, and a backing out device adapted to engage the front end of a bar concentric with the front end pusher.

8; In combination, a barisupport,abafcut-ofi mechanism and a front end bar pusher device normally in alignment with-the plane of the bar support and adjustable laterally relative to said support.-

9. A bar metering system comprising a bar support, a bar cut-off inadvance of said support, a rear end bar pusher having-an unlimited range of push movement within the range of length of the bar past the cut-off mechanism, and a front end pusher beyond the cut-off mechanism from the bar support havinglafixed' range of movement forward and back, whereby on its back stroke it may act as a stop for said rear pusher, and in its forward stroke it measures the length of the bar between the cut-off mechanism itself.

10. A bar metering system for hot-bar cut-off machines comprising a bar support, a rear-end bar pusher, a front-endbar' pusher, said front end pusher including elemental parts. movable simultaneously and relatively to each' other and a cut-out responsive to the relative movement of said front end pusher parts for controlling'the operation of. the rear-end pusher.

11. A bar metering system for hot bar cut-offmachin'es comprising a bar'support, a rear-end bar pusher, and a front-endbar pusher includ ing axially-aligned pistons movable in? concert and relative to each other.

12. A hot bar metering system'for' hot bar cut-off machines comprising a bar support, a rear end bar pusher, a front end bar pusher, a cut-out for said rear end pusher connected with said front end pusher, and cut-off'means interposed between said front endand-rear end pushers, and Vernier means associated with said front end pusher, whereby to pre determinately control a relative movement of said front end pusher with respect to said cut-off means.

CAROLUS I i. EKSERGIAN. 

